Monday, November 29, 1999

Garg`s murder case: Oz police arrests another teenager

A day after arresting and charging an Australian teenager in connection with the murder of Indian student Nitin Garg, Victorian police on Friday apprehended another boy in the same case.According to a police statement today, Homicide Squad detectives arrested and charged another teenager aged 16 from Yarraville suburb over the stabbing of Garg.Police said the boy has been charged with accessory to murder and has been bailed to appear at a Children's Court at a date to be set.The boy, who was not identified for legal reasons, replied "okay" after the magistrate outlined the schedule of dates for his case.Police yesterday arrested and charged a 15-year-old Australian boy with the murder of Garg.The breakthrough in the high-profile case, which threatened to derail India-Australia ties, came when the homicide detectives knocked on the doors of the boy's Melbourne home last morning.Garg, 21, was stabbed to death while walking to work through a park on January 2, and the incident was one in a series of violent attacks against Indians in Australia.The crime which came in for strong condemnation both in New Delhi and Canberra, with External Affairs Minister S M Krishna describing it as a "heinous crime on humanity" and "an uncivilised brutal attack on innocent Indians".However, the Victorian police, who made both the arrests, said there were no racial motive found in the killing of Garg investigation so far."In our inquiries at this stage we don't believe (Garg's death) was racially motivated," said Detective Inspector Bernie Edwards who is handling the case."It's relatively clear why it happened and how it happened but I won't speculate on the motive," he said.He had said there was no evidence of gang involvement in Garg's death.